


you can take the guardian away from the gate, but you cant take the gate guarding out of the gate guardian

by zagspect



Category: Pyre (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, First Kisses, between couple i mean. they both have prob kissed before, but i cant really justify a higher rating...ahhh decisions decisions!, i guess teen? bc there is no actual sex in it?, just discussion of it. but i would prefer no under18s read it., much inner debate at what to rate it, sexual discussion and negotiations, stillness and heraldry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 09:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29748204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zagspect/pseuds/zagspect
Summary: The cycle of the Rites is over, but it lives on like so: first there is an event that fills one with fire, and then there is nothing, still and paused as the downtime between games, and then there is a return, and a call-and-response from the gate guardian, rules to be laid down at the threshold before the worthy are allowed in. And then...? And then..........?
Relationships: Celeste | The Gate Guardian/Jodariel
Kudos: 3





	you can take the guardian away from the gate, but you cant take the gate guarding out of the gate guardian

**Author's Note:**

> real old fic reposted + edited/added to here! the kind of fic that is like a snippet of conversation, the result of discussion. i hope it still can stand on its own!

There is a statue living in Jodariel’s better chair for two days now. Good posture. Grim expression and legs primly crossed, hands gripping arms (the chair's, not hers) hard enough to leave scratches in the wood (the only sign of life). These days, sometimes Celeste is here and sometimes she is not. And now look- she is here all the time, but only in outline. She's not _really_ here, not the part Jodariel wants to see, the part that shows up with the sunrise and has quiet discussions with her that grow louder and more intense by the time noon has the sun at its brightest. This Celestatue seated will not singsong her thoughts in a way that made Jodariel feel trusted, secure, warm, like she could just reach out and-  
  
 _I tried to kiss her_ , Jodi thinks bitterly, _and now look what’s happened_. It is a punishment, she is certain. If things were reversed Jodariel would not have been all too pleased, so how could she have gotten swept up in the moment like that? At hour seventeen she had the good fortune to cross paths with Volfred, who crosses paths with Tariq frequently, who actually _laughed_ at the idea she was being punished and advised her to have “patience and composure” with the faint impression he was looking down at her. Typical Volfred advice, all in all.  
  
She has both of those, alright. She has faced down exile with composure like this. It is chilly, and she brings Celeste a blanket, drapes it over, looks closely despite herself at Celeste’s face- she feels it before she can tell what’s happening, the hand that’s shot out to grip her chin.  
  
“There are guidelines to be set, Jodariel,” Celeste tells her. Not even a ‘good morning’. “Lines that must not be crossed.”   
  
Jodariel stands, apology ready, but Celeste is too quick for her, too-  
  
“The first line of conduct I require. You are to ask clearly before removing an article of my clothing. State agreement or turn away.”  
  
Jodi blinks for a moment, stunned by the turnaround. Is that what was on Celeste's mind all this time? She hadn't even meant to move things along that quickly.   
  
"Your answer, Captain Jodariel?"  
  
She hurries to say yes. It rings of the Rites, of passing under the gate. A ceremony is a ceremony, Jodi realizes. When you are a hammer everything looks like a nail.  
  
"You know, I've been worried sick about you."  
  
Celeste blinks away, like she's been caught off guard.

"You didn't have to be."  
  
It's enough to make Jodariel laugh, no matter how serious Celeste _wants_ this whole situation to be. 

"Too bad," she says. "If you act like you've been turned to stone, I'm going to worry about you. Accept it or leave me."

"I accept."  
  
Celeste herself has a smile on her face, a real one. How times change! But she drops back into her professional mask after just a moment.  
  
“When I touch you-” Celeste starts off again (she has a _list_ , Jodi realizes, she has sat here and thought up a _list of points to get through_ ). But Jodi can’t help but shake her head ever so slightly- pure reflex. For a moment she is worried that Celeste will object, or ask her to sum up her reasons clearly and ceremonially (maybe she could, if _she_ went entirely still for days, but she does not want to). Celeste simply catches her motion, stops speaking, gestures for her to talk.  
  
“Can you…” Jodariel starts, and then takes a deep breath. This much, anyway, she can say in Celeste's preferred ceremonial tones. A soldier is not all that far from a guard, right? They're alike in some ways. That's how the two of them, stern and trying not to crumble in this new age, got in this mess to start with.  
  
“I wish to exclusively take an active role.”   
  
It sounds silly and pompous to her own ears, but Celeste nods, and says “Noted”, and on anyone else it’d sound dismissive but Celeste sounds it out as if she’s chiseled it into stone. “You do not possess a Reader’s gift, am I correct? Give your answer.”  
  
Jodariel shakes her head, can’t help a small smile. Celeste always does this, demand an answer in the same breath as a question- from the days of the Rites. _State your name and purpose._ It is about saying the words more than pressing for the response.  
  
“Then I will guide you verbally, and you will listen to me, as I will listen to you.” Celeste says. “And we will grow closer, and keep each other warm-” (these last few are borrowed words and she cannot help but sing them) “-in the era without fire. Answer me.”  
  
“We will,” Jodariel breathes back, “Keep each other warm.” They shiver a moment, in the power of it. Jodariel feels something new and hopeful. Celeste feels like she has returned home after a very long day.  
  
“Then,” Celeste says, “If you agree, then seal your approval and complete what you earlier tried.”   
  
Which is an awful long way of saying 'Kiss me’. And of course, Jodariel does. And oh, _this_ , this isn't like the Rites at all, not one bit.


End file.
